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GENERAL PERSHING'S 

STORY 






OF 

THE American Aravy 

I N FRANCE 



GOD GIVE US MEN 

God give us men. The time demands 

Strong minds, great hearts, true faith and willing hands: 

Men whom the lust of office does not kill; 
Men Yslifom the spoils of office cannot buy; 

Men who possess opinions and a will; 
Men who have honor; men who will not lie; 

Men who can stand before a demagogue 
And damn his treacherous flatteries without winking; 

Tall men, sun-crowned, who live above the fog 
In public duty and in private thinking! 
For while the rabble with their thumb-worn creeds, 
Their large professions and their little deeds 
Mingle in selfish strife; lo! Freedom weeps. 
Wrong rules the land, and waiting Justice sleeps! 

~J. G. Holland 



i o !9 ' Coinriprht. 

Uy JOHN H. V 



GENERAL PERSHING'S 
STORY 



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OF 



^mr- 



THE AMERICAN ARMY IN FRANCE 




NEW YORK 

JOHN H. EGGERS COMPANY, Inc. 

Puhlishejs 



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"The right is more precious than peace, and we shall fight for the 
things luhich nue have always carried nearest our hearts — our democracy, 
for the right of those who submit to authority to have a voice in their 
oivn Governments, for the rights and liberties of small nations, for a 
universal dominion of right by such a concert of free peoples as shall 
bring peace and safety to all nations and make the world itself at 
last free." — President Wilson's Message, April 2, 1917. 

REPORT OF GENERAL PERSHING 

TO THE 

SECRETARY OF WAR 

November 20, 1918 
My Dear Mr. Secretary : 

In response to your request, I have the honor to 
submit this brief summary of the organization and 
operations of the American Expeditionary Force 
from May 26, 1917, until the signing of the armistice 
November 11, 1918. 

Pursuant to your instructions, immediately upon 
receiving my orders I selected a small staff and pro- 
ceeded to Europe in order to become familiar with 
conditions at the earliest possible moment. 

The warmth of our reception in England and 
France was only equaled by the readiness of the com- 
manders in chief of the veteran armies of the Allies 
and their staffs to place their experience at our dis- 
posal. In consultation with them the most effective 
means of cooperation of effort was considered. With 
French and British armies at their maximum strength, 
and all efforts to dispossess the enemy from his firmly 
intrenched positions in Belgium and France failed, it 
was necessary to plan for an American force adequate 
to turn the scale in favor of the Allies. Taking ac- 
count of the strength of the central powers at that 

5 



Page 6 General Pershing^s Own Story 

time, the immensity of the problem which confronted 
us could hardly be overestimated. The first requisite 
being an organization that could give intelligent di- 
rection to effort, the formation of a General Staff oc- 
cupied my early attention. 

GENERAL STAFF 

A well organized General Staff through which the 
commanderexerciseshis functions is essential to a suc- 
cessful modern army. However capable our division, 
our battalion, and our companies as such, success 
would be impossible without thoroughly coordinated 
endeavor. A General Staff broadly organized and 
trained for war had not hitherto existed in our Army. 
Under the Commander in Chief, this staff must carry 
out the policy and direct the details of administration, 
supply, preparation, and operations of the Army as a 
whole, with all special branches and bureaus subject 
to its control. As models to aid us we had the veteran 
French General Staff and the experience of the Brit- 
ish who had similarly formed an organization to meet 
the demands of a great army. By selecting from each 
the features best adapted to our basic organization, 
and fortified by our own early experience in the war, 
the development of our great General Staff system 
was completed. 

The General S * is naturally divided into five 
groups, each with its chief who is an assistant to the 
Chief of the General Staff. G. 1 is in charge of or- 
ganization and equipment of troops, replacements, 
tonnage, priority of overseas shipment, the auxiliary 
welfare association and cognate subjects ; G. 2 has 
censorship, enemy intelligence, gathering and dissem- 



The American Army in France Page 7 

inating information, preparaton of maps, and all sim- 
ilar subjects ; G. 3 is charged with all strategic studies 
and plans, movement of troops, and the supervision of 
combat operations; G. 4 coordinates important ques- 
tions of supply, construction, transport arrangements 
for combat, and of the operations of the service of 
supply, and of hospitalization and the evacuation of 
the sick and wounded; G. 5 supervises the various 
schools and has general direction and coordination of 
education and training. 

The first Chief of Staff was Col. (now Maj. Gen.) 
James G. Harbord, who was succeeded in May, 1918, 
by Maj. Gen. James W. McAndrew. To these officers, 
to the Deputy Chief of Stafif, and to the assistant 
Chiefs of Staff, who, as heads of sections, aided them, 
great credit is due for the results obtained not only in 
perfecting the General Stafif organization but in ap- 
plying correct principles to the multiplicity of prob- 
lems that have arisen. 

ORGANIZATION AND TRAINING 

After a thorough consideration of allied organiza- 
tions it was decided that our combat division should 
consist of four regiments of infantry of 3,000 men, 
with three battalions to regiment and four companies 
of 250 men each to a battalion, and of an artillery bri- 
gade of three regiments, a machi?<: -gun battalion, an 
engineer regiment, a trench-moi car battery, a signal 
battalion, wagon trains, and the headquarters staffs 
and military police. These, with medical and other 
units, made a total of over 28,000 men, or practically 
double the size of a French or German division. Each 
corps would normally consist of six divisions — four 



Page 8 General Pershing^s Own Story 

combat and one depot and one replacement division — 
and also two regiments of cavalry, and each army of 
from three to five corps. With four divisions fully 
trained, a corps could take over an American sector 
with two divisions in line and two in reserve, with 
the depot and replacement divisions prepared to fill 
the gaps in the ranks. 

Our purpose was to prepare an integral American 
force which should be able to take the offensive in 
every respect. Accordingly, the development of a 
self-reliant infantry by thorough drill in the use of the 
rifle and in the tactics of open warfare was always up- 
permost. The plan of training after arrival in France 
allowed a division one month for acclimatization and 
instruction in small units from battalions down, a sec- 
ond month in quiet trench sectors by battalion, and a 
third month after it came out of the trenches when it 
should be trained as a complete division in war of 
movement. 

Very early a system of schools was outlined and 
started, which should have the advantage of instruc- 
tion by officers direct from the front. At the great 
school center at Langres, one of the first to be organ- 
ized, was the staff school, where the principles of gen- 
eral staff work, as laid down in our own organization 
were taught to carefully selected officers. Men in the 
ranks, who had shown qualities of leadership, were 
sent to the school of candidates for commissions. A 
school of the line taught younger officers the princi- 
ples of leadership, tactics, and the use of the different 
weapons. In the artillery school, at Saumur, young 
officers were taught the fundamental principles of 
modern artillery ; while at Issoudun an immense plant 



The American Army in France Page g 

was built for training cadets in aviation. These and 
other schools, with their well-considered curriculums 
for training in every branch of our organization, were 
coordinated in a manner best to develop an efficient 
Army out of willing and industrious young men, 
many of whom had not before known even the rudi- 
ments of military technique. Both Marshal Haig and 
Gen. Petain placed officers and men at our disposal 
for instructional purposes, and we are deeply indebt- 
ed for the opportunities given to profit by their vet- 
eran experience. 

AMERICAN ZONE 

The eventual place the American Army should 
take on the western front was to a large extent influ- 
enced by the vital questions of communication and 
supply. The northern ports of France were crowded 
by the British Armies' shipping and supplies while 
the southern ports, though otherwise at our service, 
had not adequate port facilities for our purposes and 
these we should have to build. The already overtaxed 
railway system behind the active front in northern 
France would not be available for us as lines of sup- 
ply and those leading from the southern ports of 
northeastern France would be unequal to our needs 
without much new construction. Practically all ware- 
houses, supply depots and regulating stations must be 
provided by fresh constructions. While France of- 
fered us such material as she had to spare after a drain 
of three years enormous quantities of material had to 
be brought across the Atlantic. 

With such a problem any temporization or lack of 
definiteness in making plans might cause failure even 
with victory within our grasp. Moreover, broad plans 



Page lo General Pershing^s Own Story 

commensurate with our national purpose and re- 
sources would bring conviction of our power to every 
soldier in the front line, to the nations associated with 
us in the war, and to the enemy. The tonnage for ma- 
terial for necessary construction for the supply of an 
army of three and perhaps four million men would 
require a mammoth program of shipbuilding at home, 
and miles of dock construction in France, with a cor- 
responding large project for additional railways and 
for storage depots. 

All these considerations led to the inevitable con- 
clusion that if we were to handle and supply the great 
forces deemed essential to win the war we must utilize 
the southern ports of France — Bordeaux, La Pallice, 
St. Nazaire, and Brest — and the comparatively un- 
used railway systems leading therefrom to the north- 
east. Generally speaking, then, this would contem- 
plate the use of our forces against the enemy some- 
where in that direction, but the great depots of supply 
must be centrally located, preferably in the area in- 
cluded by Tours, Bourges, and Chateauroux, so that 
our armies could be supplied with equal facility 
wherever they might be serving on the western front. 

GROWTH OF THE SERVICE OF SUPPLY 

To build up such a system there were talented men 
in the Regular Army, but more experts were neces- 
sary than the Army could furnish. Thanks to the pa- 
triotic spirit of our people at home, there came from 
civil life men trained for every sort of work involved 
in building and managing the organization necessary 
to handle and transport such an army and keep it sup- 
plied. With such assistance the construction and gen- 



The American Army in France Page ii 

eral development of our plans have kept pace with the 
growth of the forces, and the Service of Supply is now 
able to discharge from ships and move 45,000 tons 
daily, besides transporting troops and material in the 
conduct of active operations. 

As to organization, all the administrative and sup- 
ply services, except The Adjutant General's, Inspec- 
tor General's, and Judge Advocate General's Depart- 
ments which remain at general headquarters, have 
been transferred to the headquarters of the services of 
supplies at Tours under a commanding general re- 
sponsible to the commander in chief for supply of the 
armies. The Chief Quartermaster, Chief Surgeon, 
Chief Signal Officer, Chief of Ordnance, Chief of 
Air Service, Chief of Chemical Warfare, the general 
purchasing agent in all that pertains to questions of 
procurement and supply, the Provost Marshal Gen- 
eral in the maintenance of order in general, the Di- 
rector General of Transportation in all that affects 
such matters, and the Chief Engineer in all matters of 
administration and supply, are subordinate to the 
Commanding General of the Service of Supply, who, 
assisted by a staff especially organized for the pur- 
pose, is charged with the administrative coordination 
of all these services. 

The transportation department under the Service 
of Supply directs the operation, maintenance, and 
construction of railways, the operation of terminals, 
the unloading of ships, and transportation of mate- 
rial to warehouses or to the front. Its functions make 
necessary the most intimate relationship between our 
organization and that of the French, with the practi- 
cal result that our transportation department hns been 



Page 12 General Pershing's Own Story 

able to improve materially the operations of railways 
generally. Constantly laboring under a shortage of 
rolling stock, the transportation department has nev- 
ertheless been able by efficient management to meet 
every emergency. 

The Engineer Corps is charged with all construc- 
tion, including light railways and roads. It has 
planned and constructed the many projects required, 
the most important of which are the new wharves at 
Bordeau and Nantes, and the immense storage depots 
at La Pallice, Montoir, and Gievres, besides innu- 
merable hospitals and barracks in various ports of" 
France. These projects have all been carried on by 
phases keeping pace with our needs. The Forestry 
Service under the Engineer Corps has cut the greater 
part of the timber and railway ties required. 

To meet the shortage of supplies from America, 
due to lack of shipping, the representatives of the dif- 
ferent supply departments were constantly in search 
of available material and supplies in Europe. In or- 
der to coordinate these purchases and to prevent com- 
petition between our departments, a general purchas- 
ing agency was created early in our experience to co- 
ordinate our purchases and, if possible, induce our Al- 
lies to apply the principle among the Allied armies. 
While there was no authority for the general use of 
appropriations, this was met by grouping the pur- 
chasing representatives of the different departments 
under one control, charged with the duty of consoli- 
dating requisitions and purchases. Our efforts to ex- 
tend the principle have been signally successful, and 
all purchases for the Allied armies are now on an 
equitable and cooperative basis. Indeed, it may be 



The American Army in France Page 13 

said that the work of this bureau has been thoroughly 
efficient and businesslike. 

ARTILLERY, AIRPLANES, AND TANKS 

Our entry into the war found us with few of the 
auxiliaries necessary for its conduct in the modern 
sense. Among our most important deficiencies in ma- 
terial were artillery, aviation, and tanks. In order to 
meet our requirements as rapidly as possible, we ac- 
cepted the offer of the French Government to provide 
us with the necessary artillery equipment of seventy- 
fives, one fifty-five millimeter howitzers, and one fif- 
ty-five G P F guns from their own factories for thirty 
divisions. The wisdom of this course is fully demon- 
strated by the fact that, although we soon began the 
manufacture of these classes of guns at home, there 
were no guns of the calibers mentioned manufactured 
in America on our front at the date the armistice was 
signed. The only guns of these types produced at 
home thus far received in France are 109 seventy-five 
millimeter guns. 

In aviation we were in the same situation, and here 
again the French Government came to our aid until 
our own aviation program should be under way. We 
obtained from the French the necessary planes for 
training our personnel, and they have provided us 
with a total of 2,676 pursuit, observation, and bomb- 
ing planes. The first airplanes received from home 
arrived in May, and altogether we have received 
1,379. The first American squadron completely 
equipped by American production, including air- 
planes, crossed the German lines on August 7, 1918. 
As to tanks, we were also compelled to rely upon the 



Page 14 General Pershing^s Own Story 

French. Here, however, we were less fortunate, for 
the reason that the French production could barely 
meet the requirements of their own armies. 

It should be fully realized that the French Gov- 
ernment has always taken a most liberal attitude and 
has been most anxious to give us every possible as- 
sistance in meeting our deficiencies in these as well 
as in other respects. Our dependence upon France 
for artillery, aviation, and tanks was, of course, due 
to the fact that our industries had not been exclusively 
devoted to military production. Ail credit is due our 
own manufacturers for their efforts to meet our re- 
quirements, as at the time the armistice was signed we 
were able to look forward to the early supply of prac- 
tically all our necessities from our own factories. 

The welfare of the troops touches my responsibil- 
ity as Commander in Chief to the mothers and 
fathers and kindred of the men who came to France 
in the impressionable period of youth. They could 
not have the privilege accorded European soldiers 
during their periods of leave of visiting their fam- 
ilies and renewing their home ties. Fully realizing 
that the standard of conduct that should be estab- 
lished for them must have a permanent influence in 
their lives and on the character of their future citi- 
zenship, the Red Cross, the Young Men's Christian 
Association, Knights of Columbus, the Salvation 
Army, and the Jewish Welfare Board, as auxiliaries 
in this work, were encouraged in every possible way. 
The fact that our soldiers, in a land of different cus- 
toms and language, have borne themselves in a man- 
ner in keeping with the cause for which they fought, 
is due not only to the efforts in their behalf but 



The American Army in France Page 75 

much more to other high ideals, their discipline, and 
their innate sense of self-respect. It should be re- 
corded, however, that the members of these welfare 
societies have been untiring in their desire to be of 
real service to our officers and men. The patriotic 
devotion of these representative men and women has 
given a new significance to the Golden Rule, and we 
owe to them a debt of gratitude that can never be 
repaid. 

COMBAT OPERATIONS 

During our periods of training in the trenches some 
of our divisions had engaged the enemy in local com- 
bats, the most important of which was Seicheprey by 
the Twenty-sixth on April 20, in the Toul sector, but 
none had participated in action as a unit. The First 
division, which had passed through the preliminary 
stages of training, had gone to the trenches for its first 
period of instruction at the end of October and by 
March 21, when the German offensive in Picardy be- 
gan, we had four divisions with experience in the 
trenches, all of which were equal to any demands of 
battle action. The crisis which this offensive devel- 
oped was such that our occupation of an American 
sector must be postponed. 

On March 28 I placed at the disposal of Marshal 
Foch, who had been agreed upon as Commander in 
Chief of the Allied Armies, all of our forces to be 
used as he might decide. At his request the first divis- 
ion was transferred from the Toul sector to a position 
in reserve at Chaumont en Vexin. As German supe- 
riority in numbers required prompt action, an agree- 
ment was reached at the Abbeville conference of the 



,/*<,»<.- 



Fage i6 General Pershing^s Own Story 

Allied premiers and commanders and myself on May 
2 by which British shipping was to transport 10 Am- 
erican divisions to the British Army area, where they 
were to be trained and equipped, and additional Brit- 
ish shipping was to be provided for as many divisions 
as possible for use elsewhere. 

On April 26 the First Division had gone into the 
line in the Montdidier salient on the Picardy battle 
front. Tactics had been suddenly revolutionized to 
those of open warfare, and our men, confident of the 
results of their training, were eager for the test. On 
the morning of May 28 this division attacked the com- 
manding German position in its front, taking with 
splendid dash the town of Cantigny and all other ob- 
jectives, which were organized and held steadfastly 
against vicious counterattacks and galling artillery 
fire. Although local, this brilliant action had an 
electrical effect, as it demonstrated our fighting 
qualities under extreme battle conditions, and also 
that the enemy's troops were not altogether invincible. 
/The Germans' Aisne offensive, which began on 
'^May 27, had advanced rapidly toward the River 
Marne and Paris, and the Allies faced a crisis equally 
as grave as that of the Picardy offensive in March. 
Again every available man was placed at Marshal 
Foch's disposal, and the Third Division, which had 
just come from its preliminary training in the trench- 
es, was hurried to the Marne. Its motorized machine- 
gun battalion preceded the other units and success- 
fully held the bridgehead at the Marne, opposite Cha- 
teau-Thierry. The Second Division, in reserve near 
Montdidier, was sent by motor trucks and other avail- 
able transport to check the progress of the enemy to- 



The American Army in France Page 17 

ward Paris. The Division attacked and retook the 
town and railroad station at Bouresches and sturdily 
held its ground against the enemy's best guard divis- 
ions. In the battle of Belleau Wood, which followed, 
our men proved their superiority and gained a strong 
tactical position, with far greater loss to the enemy 
than to ourselves. On July 1, before the Second was 
relieved, it captured the village of Vaux with most 
splendid precision. 

Meanwhile our Second Corps, under Maj. Gen. 
George W. Read, had been organized for the com- 
mand of our divisions with the British, which were 
held back in training areas or assigned to second-line 
defenses. Five of the ten divisions were withdrawn 
from the British area in June, three to relieve divis- 
ions in Lorraine and the Vosges and two to the Paris 
area to join the group of American divisions which 
stood between the city and any farther advance of the 
enemy in that direction. 

The great June-July troop movement from the 
States was well under way, and, although these troops 
were to be given some preliminary training before 
being put into action, their very presence warranted 
the use of all the older divisions in the confidence that 
we did not lack reserves. Elements of the Forty-sec- 
ond Division were in the line east of Rheims against 
the German offensive of July IS, and held their 
ground unflinchingly. On the right flank of this of- 
fensive four companies of the Twenty-eighth Division 
were in position in face of the advancing waves of the 
German infantry. The Third Division was holding 
the bank of the Marne from the bend east of the 
mouth of the Surmelin to the west of Mezy, opposite 



Page i8 General Pershing^s Own Story 

Chateau Thierry, where a large force of German in- 
fantry sought to force a passage under support of 
powerful artillery concentrations and under cover of 
smoke screens. A single regiment of the Third wrote 
one of the most brilliant pages in our military annals 
on this occasion. It prevented the crossing at certain 
points on its front while, on either flank, the Germans, 
who had gained a footing, pressed forward. Our men, 
firing in three directions, met the German attacks 
with counterattacks at critical points and succeeded 
in throwing two German divisions into complete con- 
fusion, capturing 600 prisoners. 

The great force of the German Chateau Thierry 
offensive established the deep Marne salient, but the 
enemy was taking chances, and the vulnerability of 
this pocket to attack might be turned to his disadvan- 
tage. Seizing this opportunity to support my convic- 
tion, every division with any sort of training was 
made available for use in a counter-offensive. The 
place of honor in the thrust toward Soissons on July 
18 was given to our First and Second Divisions in 
company with chosen French divisions. Without the 
usual brief warning of a preliminary bombardment, 
the massed French and American artillery, firing by 
the map, laid down its rolling barrage at dawn while 
the infantry began its charge. The tactical handling 
of our troops under these trying conditions was excel- 
lent throughout the action. The enemy brought up 
large numbers of reserves and made a stubborn de- 
fense both with machine guns and artillery, but 
through five days' fighting the First Division con- 
tinued to advance until it had gained the heights 
above Soissons and captured the village of Berzy-le- 



The American Army in France Page 19 

sec. The Second Division took Beau Repaire farm 
and Vierzy in a very rapid advance and reached a 
position in front of Tigny at the end of its second day. 
These two divisions captured 7,000 prisoners and 
over 100 pieces of artillery. 

The Twenty-sixth Division, which, with a French 
division, was under command of our First Corps, 
acted as a pivot of the movement toward Soissons. On 
the 18th it took the village of Torcy while the Third 
Division was crossing the Marne in pursuit of the re- 
tiring enemy. The Twenty-sixth attacked again on 
the 21st, and the enemy withdrew past the Chateau 
Thierry-Soissons road. The Third Division, continu- 
ing its progress, took the heights of Mont St. Pere 
and the villages of Charteves and Jaulgonne in the 
face of both machine-gun and artillery fire. 

On the 24th, after the Germans had fallen back 
from Trugny and Epieds, our Forty-Second Division, 
which had been brought over from the Champagne, 
relieved the Twenty-sixth and, fighting its way 
through the Foret de Fere, overwhelmed the nest of 
machine guns in its path. By the 27th it had reached 
the Ourcq, whence the Third and Fourth Divisions 
were already advancing, while the French divisions 
with which we were cooperating were moving for- 
ward at other points. 

The Third Division had made its advance into 
Roncheres Wood on the 29th and was relieved for 
rest by a brigade of the Thirty-second. The Forty- 
second and Thirty-second undertook the task of con- 
quering the heights beyond Cierges, the Forty-second 
capturing Sergy and the Thirty-second capturing 
Hill 230, both American divisions joining in the pur- 



Page 20 General Pershing's Own Story 

suit of the enemy to the Vesle, and thus the operation 
of reducing the salient was finished. Meanwhile the 
Forty-second was relieved by the Fourth at Chery- 
Chartreuve, and the Thirty-second by the Twenty- 
eighth, while the Seventy-seventh Division took up a 
position on the Vesle. The operations of these di- 
visions on the Vesle were under the Third Corps, 
Maj. Gen. Robert L. Bullard, commanding. 

BATTLE OF ST. MIHIEL 

With the reduction of the Marne salient we could 
look forward to the concentration of our divisions in 
our own zone. In view of the forthcoming operation 
against the St. Mihiel salient, which had long been 
planned as our first offensive action on a large scale, 
the First Army was organized on August 10 under 
my personal command. While American units had 
held different divisional and corps sectors along the 
western front, there had not been up to this time, for 
obvious reasons, a distinct American sector; but, in 
view of the important parts the American forces were 
now to play, it was necessary to take over a permanent 
portion of the line. Accordingly, on August 30, the 
line beginning at Fort sur Seille, east of the Moselle 
and extending to the west through St. Mihiel, thence 
north to a point opposite Verdun, was placed under 
my command. The American sector was afterwards 
extended across the Meuse to the western edge of the 
Argonne Forest, and included the Second Colonial 
French, which held the point of the salient, and the 
Seventeenth French Corps, which occupied the 
heights above Verdun. 

The preparation for a complicated operation 



The American Army in France Page 21 

against the formidable defenses in front of us includ- 
ed the assembling of divisions and of corps and army 
artillery, transport, aircraft, tanks, ambulances, the 
location of hospitals, and the molding together of all 
the elements of a great modern army with its own 
railheads, supplied directly by our own Service of 
Supply. The concentration for this operation, which 
was to be a surprise, involved the movement, mostly 
at night, of approximately 600,000 troops, and re- 
quired for its success the most careful attention to 
every detail. 

The French were generous in giving us assistance 
in corps and army artillery, with its personnel, and 
we were confident from the start of our superiority 
over the enemy in guns of all calibers. Our heavy 
guns were able to reach Metz and to interfere serious- 
ly with German rail movements. The French Inde- 
pendent Air Force was placed under my command 
which, together with the British bombing squadrons 
and our air forces, gave us the largest assembly of 
aviation that had ever been engaged in one operation 
on the western front. 

From Les Eparges around the nose of the salient at 
St. Mihiel to the Moselle River the line was roughly 
40 miles long and situated on commanding ground 
greatly strengthened by artificial defenses. Our First 
Corps (Eighty-second, Ninetieth, Fifth, and Second 
Divisions) under command of Maj. Gen. Hunter 
Liggett, restrung its right on Pont-a-Mousson, with 
its left joining our Third Corps (the Eighty-ninth, 
Forty-second, and First Divisions), under Maj. Gen. 
Joseph T. Dickman, in line to Xivray, were to swing 
in toward Vigneulles on the pivot of the Moselle 



Page 22 General Pershing's Own Story 

River for the initial assault. From Xivray to Mouilly 
the Second Colonial French Corps was in line in the 
center and our Fifth Corps, under command of Maj. 
Gen. George H. Cameron, with our Twenty-sixth 
Division and a French division at the western base of 
the salient, were to attack three difficult hills — Les 
Eparges, Combres, and Amaramthe. Our First Corps 
had in reserve the Seventy-eighth Division, our 
Fourth Corps the Third Division, and our First 
Army the Thirty-fifth and Ninety-first Divisions, 
with the Eightieth and Thirty-third available. It 
should be understood that our corps organizations are 
very elastic, and that we have at no time had perma- 
nent assignments of divisions to corps. 

After four hours artillery preparation, the seven 
American divisions in the front line advanced at 5 
a. m., on September 12, assisted by a limited number 
of tanks manned partly by Americans and partly by 
the French. These divisions, accompanied by groups 
of wire cutters and others armed with bangalore tor- 
pedoes, went through the successive bands of barbed 
wire that protected the enemy's front line and sup- 
port trenches, in irresistible waves on schedule time, 
breaking down all defense of an enemy demoralized 
by the great volume of our artillery fire and our sud- 
den approach out of the fog. 

Our First Corps advanced to Thiaucourt, while 
our Fourth Corps curved back to the southwest 
through Nonsard. The Second Colonial French 
Corps made the slight advance required of it on very 
difficult ground, and the Fifth Corps took its three 
ridges and repulsed a counter attack. A rapid 
march brought reserve regiments of a Division of the 



The American Army in France Page 23 

Fifth Corps into Vigneulles in the early morning, 
where it linked up with patrols of our Fourth Corps, 
closing the salient and forming a new line west of 
Thiacourt to Vigneulles and beyond Fresnes-en- 
Woevre. At the cost of only 7,000 casualties, mostly 
light, we had taken 16,000 prisoners and 443 guns, a 
great quantity of material, released the inhabitants 
of many villages from enemy domination, and estab- 
lished our lines in a position to threaten Metz. This 
signal success of the American First Army in its first 
ofifensive was of prime importance. The Allies found 
they had a formidable army to aid them, and the 
enemy learned finally that he had one to reckon with. 

MEUSE-ARGONNE OFFENSIVE, FIRST PHASE 

On the day after we had taken the St. Mihiel sali- 
ent, much of our Corps and Army artillery which had 
operated at St. Mihiel, and our Divisions in reserve at 
other points, were already on the move toward the 
area back of the line between the Meuse River and 
the western edge of the forest of Argonne. With the 
exception of St. Mihiel, the old German front line 
from Switzerland to the east of Rheims was still in- 
tact. In the general attack all along the line, the 
operation assigned the American Army as the hinge 
of this Allied offensive was directed toward the im- 
portant railroad communications of the German 
armies through Mezieres and Sedan. The enemy 
must hold fast to this part of his lines or the with- 
drawal of his forces with four years' accumulation of 
plants and material would be dangerously imperiled. 

The German Army had as yet shown no demorali- 
zation and, while the mass of its troops had suffered 
in morale, its first-class divisions and notably its ma- 



Page 24 General Pershing's Own Story 

chine-gun defense were exhibiting remarkable tacti- 
cal efficiency as well as courage. The German Gen- 
eral Staff was fully aware of the consequences of a 
success on the Meuse-Argonne line. Certain that he 
would do everything in his power to oppose us, the ac- 
tion was planned with as much secrecy as possible 
and was undertaken with the determination to use all 
our Divisions in forcing decision. We expected to 
draw the best German divisions to our front and to 
consume them while the enemy was held under grave 
apprehension lest our attack should break his line, 
which it was our firm purpose to do. 

Our right flank was protected by the Meuse, while 
our left embraced the Argonne forest whose ravines, 
hills, and elaborate defense screened by dense thickets 
had been generally considered impregnable. Our 
order of battle from right to left was the Third Corps 
from the Meuse to Malancourt, with the Thirty- 
third, Eightieth, and Fourth Divisions in line, and 
the Third Division as corps reserve; the Fifth Corps 
from Malancourt to Vauquois, with Seventy-ninth, 
Eighty-seventh, and Ninety-first Divisions in line, 
and the Thirty-second in corps reserve; and the First 
Corps, from Vauquois to Vienne Le Chateau, with 
Thirty-fifth, Twenty-eighth, and Seventy-seventh Di- 
visions in line, and the Ninety-second in corps re- 
serve. The Army reserve consisted of the First, 
Twenty-ninth, and Eighty-second Divisions. 

On the night of September 25 our troops quietly 
took the place of the French who thinly held the line 
in this sector which had long been inactive. In the 
attack which began on the 26th we drove through the 
barbed wire entanglements and the sea of shell craters 



The American Army in France Page 25 

across No Man's Land, mastering all the first-line de- 
fenses. Continuing on the 27th and 28th, against ma- 
chine guns and artillery of an increasing number of 
enemy reserve divisions, we penetrated to a depth of 
from 3 to 7 miles, and took the village of Montfau- 
con and its commanding hill and Exermont, Ger- 
court, Cuisy, Septsarges, Malancourt, Ivoiry,Epinon- 
ville, Charpentry, Very, and other villages. East of 
the Meuse one of our Divisions, which was with the 
Second Colonial French Corps, captured Marche- 
ville and Rieville, giving further protection to the 
flank of our main body. We had taken 10,000 prison- 
ers, we had gained our point of forcing the battle into 
the open and were prepared for the enem.y's reaction, 
which was bound to come as he had good roads and 
ample railroad facilities for bringing up his artillery 
and reserves. 

In the chill rain of dark nights our engineers had 
to build new roads across spongy, shell-torn areas, 
repair broken roads beyond No Man's Land, and 
build bridges. Our gunners, with no thought of sleep, 
put their shoulders to wheels and dragropes to bring 
their guns through the mire in support of the infan- 
try, now under the increasing fire of the enemy's artil- 
lery. Our attack had taken the enemy by surprise, 
but, quickly recovering himself, he began to fire coun- 
ter-attacks in strong force, supported by heavy bom^- 
bardments, with large quantities of gas. From Sep- 
tember 28 until October 4 we maintained the offen- 
sive against patches of woods defended by snipers and 
continuous lines of machine guns, and pushed for- 
ward our guns and transport, seizing strategical 
points in preparation for further attacks. 



Page 26 GENERAL PeRSHING^S OwN StORY 

OTHER UNITS WITH ALLIES 

Other Divisions attached to the Allied armies were 
doing their part. It was the fortune of our Second 
Corps, composed of the Twenty-seventh and Thirti- 
eth Divisions, which had remained with the British, 
to have a place of honor in cooperation with the Aus- 
tralian Corps on September 29 and October 1 in the 
assaut on the Hindenburg line where the St. Quentin 
Canal passes through a tunnel under a ridge. The 
Thirtieth Division speedily broke through the main 
line of defense for all its objectives, while the Twen- 
ty-seventh pushed on impetuously through the main 
line until some of its elements reached Gouy. In the 
midst of the maze of trenches and shell craters and 
under cross fire from machine guns the other ele- 
ments fought desperately against odds. In this and 
in later actions, from October 6 to October 19, our 
Second Corps captured over 6,000 prisoners and ad- 
vanced over 13 miles. The spirit and aggressiveness 
of these Divisions have been highly praised by the 
British Army commander under whom they served. 

On October 2-9 our Second and Thirty-Sixth Di- 
visions were sent to assist the French in an important 
attack against the old German positions before 
Rheims. The Second conquered the complicated de- 
fense works on their front against a persistent defense 
worthy of the grimmest period of trench warfare and 
attacked the strongly held wooded hill of Blanc 
Mont, which they captured in a second assault, 
sweeping over it with a consummate dash and skill. 
This Division then repulsed strong counter attacks 
before the village and cemetery of Ste. Etienne and 



The American Army in France Page 27 

took the town, forcing the Germans to fall back from 
before Rheims and yield positions they had held since 
September, 1914. On October 9, the Thirty-sixth 
Division relieved the Second and, in its first exper- 
ience under fire, withstood very severe artillery bom- 
bardment and rapidly took up the pursuit of the en- 
emy, now retiring behind the Aisne. 

MEUSE-ARGONNE OFFENSIVE, SECOND PHASE 

The Allied progress elsewhere cheered the efforts 
of our men in this crucial contest as the German com- 
mand threw in more and more first-class troops to 
stop our advance. We made steady headway in the 
almost impenetrable and strongly held Argonne For- 
est, for, despite this reinforcement, it was our Army 
that was doing the driving. Our aircraft was in- 
creasing in skill and numbers and forcing the issue, 
and our Infantry and Artillery were improving rapid- 
ly with each new experience. The replacements 
fresh from home were put into exhausted divisions 
with little time for training, but they had the advan- 
tage of serving beside men who knew their business 
and who had almost become veterans overnight. The 
enemy had taken every advantage of the terrain, 
which especialy favored the defense, by a prodigal 
use of machine guns manned by highly trained vet- 
erans and by using his artillery at short ranges. In 
the face of such strong frontal positions we should 
have been unable to accomplish any progress accord- 
ing to previously accepted standards, but I had every 
confidence in our aggressive tactics and the courage 
of our troops. 

On October 4 the attack was renewed all along our 



Fage 28 General Pershinc's Own Story 

front. The Third Corps tilting to the left followed 
the Brieulles-Cunel road ; our Fifth Corps took Ges- 
nes while the First Corps advanced for over 2 miles 
along the irregular valley of the Aire River and in 
the wooded hills of the Argonne that bordered the 
river, used by the enemy with all his art and wea- 
pons of defense. This sort of fighting continued 
against an enemy striving to hold every foot of ground 
and whose very strong counter-attacks challenged us 
at every point. On the 7th the First Corps captured 
Chatel-Chehery and continued along the river to 
Cornay. On the east of Meuse sector one of the two 
Divisions cooperating with the French captured 
Consenvoye and the Haumont Woods. On the 9th the 
Fifth Corps, in its progress up the Aire, took Fleville, 
and the Third Corps which had continuous fighting 
against odds was working its way through BrieuUes 
and Cunel. On the 10th we had cleared the Argonne 
Forest of the enemy. 

It was now necessary to constitute a second army, 
and on October 9 the immediate command of the 
First Army was turned over to Lieut. Gen. Hunter 
Liggett. The command of the Second Army, whose 
divisions occupied a sector in the Woevre, was given 
to Lieut. Gen. Robert L. Bullard, who had been 
commander of the First Division and then of the 
Third Corps. Maj. Gen. Dickman was transferred 
to the command of the First Corps, while the Fifth 
Corps was placed under Maj. Gen. Charles P. Sum- 
merall, who had recently commanded the First Di- 
vision. Maj. Gen. John L. Hines, who had gone rap- 
idly up from regimental to division commander, was 
assigned to the Third Corps. These four officers had 



The American Army in France Vage zg 

been in France from the early days of the expedition 
and had learned their lessons in the school of practi- 
cal warfare. 

Our constant pressure against the enemy brought 
day by day more prisoners, mostly survivors from ma- 
chine-gun nests captured in fighting at close quarters. 
On October 18 there was very fierce fighting in the 
Caures Woods east of the Meuse and in the Ormont 
Woods. On the 14th the First Corps took St. Juvin, 
and the Fifth Corps, in hand-to-hand encounters, en- 
tered the formidable Kriemhilde line, where the en- 
emy had hoped to check us indefinitely. Later the 
Fifth Corps penetrated further the Kriemhilde line, 
and the First Corps took Champigneulles and the im- 
portant town of Grandpre. Our dogged offensive 
was wearing down the enemy, who continued des- 
perately to throw his best troops against us, thus 
weakening his line in front of our Allies and making 
their advance less difficult. 

DIVISIONS IN BELGIUM 

Meanwhile we v/ere not only able to continue the 
battle, but our Thirty-seventh and Ninety-first Di- 
visions were hastily withdrawn from our front and 
dispatched to help the French Army in Belgium. De- 
training in the neighborhood of Ypres, these Di- 
visions advanced by rapid stages to the fighting line 
and were assigned to adjacent French corps. On Oc- 
tober 31, in continuation of the Flanders offensive, 
they attacked and methodically broke down all enemy 
resistance. On November 3 the Thirty-seventh had 
completed its mission in dividing the enemy across 
the Escaut River and firmly established itself along 



Page 30 General Pershing's Own Story 

the east bank included in the division zone of action. 
By a clever flanking movement troops of the Ninety- 
first Division captured Spitaals Bosschen, a difficult 
wood extending across the central part of the division 
sector, reached the Escaut, and penetrated into the 
town of Audenarde. These divisions received high 
commendation from their corps commanders for their 
dash and energy. 

MEUSE-ARGONNE — LAST PHASE 

On the 23d the Third and Fifth Corps pushed 
northward to the level of Bantheville. While we 
continued to press forward and throw back the en- 
emy's violent counter-attacks with great loss to him, 
a regrouping of our forces was under v/ay for the 
final assault. Evidences of loss of morale by the en- 
emy gave our men more confidence in attack and 
more fortitude in enduring the fatigue of incessant 
effort and the hardships of very inclement weather. 

With comparatively well-rested divisions, the final 
advance in the Meuse-Argonne front was begun on 
November 1. Our increased artillery force acquitted 
itself magnificently in support of the advance, and 
the enemy broke before the determined infantry, 
which, by its persistent fighting of the past weeks and 
the dash of this attack, had overcome his will to re- 
sist. The Third Corps took Aincreville, Doulcon, 
and Andevanne, and the Fifth Corps took Landres et 
St. Georges and pressed through successive lines of 
resistance to Bayonville and Chennery. On the 2d 
the First Corps joined in the movement, which now 
became an impetuous onslaught that could not be 
stayed. 



The American Army in France Page 31 

On the 3d advance troops surged forward in pur- 
suit, some by motor trucks, while the artillery pressed 
along the country roads close behind. The First 
Corps reached Authe and Chatillon-Sur-Bar, the 
Fifth Corps, Fosse and Nouart, and the Third Corps 
Halles, penetrating the enemy's line to a depth of 12 
miles. Our large caliber guns had advanced and 
were skillfully brought into position to fire upon 
the important lines at Montmedy, Longuyon, and 
Conflans. Our Third Corps crossed the Meuse on 
the Sth and the other corps, in the full confidence that 
the day was theirs, eagerly cleared the way of ma- 
chine guns as they swept northward, maintaining 
complete coordination throughout. On the 6th, a 
division of the First Corps reached a point on the 
Meuse opposite Sedan, 25 miles from our line of de- 
parture. The strategical goal which was our high- 
est hope was gained. We had cut the enemy's main 
line of communications, and nothing but surrender 
or an armistice could save his army from complete 
disaster. 

In all 40 enemy divisions had been used against us ....^ m^ 

in the Meuse-Argonne battle. Between September |^_4M,,^^,fi^t^. 
26 and November 6 we took 26,059 prisoners and 468 
guns on this front. Our Divisions engaged were the 
First, Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Twenty-sixth, 
Twenty-eighth, Twenty-ninth, Thirty-second, Thirty- 
third, Thirty-fifth, Thirty-seventh, Forty-second, 
Seventy-seventh, Seventy-eighth, Seventy-ninth, 
Eightieth, Eighty-second, Eighty-ninth, Ninetieth, 
and Ninety-first. Many of our divisions remained in 
line for a length of time that required nerves of steel, 
while others were sent in again after only a few days 



Page 32 General Pershing's Own Story 

of rest. The First, Fifth, Twenty-sixth, Forty- 
second, Seventy-seventh, Eightieth, Eighty-ninth, and 
Ninetieth were in the line twice. Although some of 
the divisions were fighting their first battle, they soon 
became equal to the best. 

OPERATIONS EAST OF THE MEUSE 

On the three days preceding November 10, the 
Third, the Second Colonial, and the Seventeenth 
French Corps fought a difficult struggle through the 
Meuse Hills south of Stenay and forced the enem.y 
into the plain. Meanwhile, my plans for further use 
of the American forces contemplated an advance be- 
tween the Meuse and the Moselle in the direction of 
Longwy by the First Army, while, at the same time, 
the Second Army should assure the offensive toward 
the rich iron fields of Briey. These operations were 
to be followed by an offensive toward Chateau-Salins 
east of the Moselle, thus isolating Metz. According- 
ly, attacks on the American front had been ordered 
and that of the Second Army was in progress on the 
morning of November 11, when instructions were re- 
ceived that hostilities should cease at 1 1 o'clock a. m. 

At this moment the line of the American sector, 
from right to left, began at Port-Sur-Seille, thence 
across the Moselle to Vandieres and through the 
Woevre to Bezonvaux in the foothills of the Meuse, 
thence along to the foothills and through the northern 
edge of the Woevre forests to the Meuse at Mouzay, 
thence along the Meuse connecting with the French 
under Sedan. 



General Pershing's Own Story Page 33 

RELATIONS WITH THE ALLIES 

Cooperation among the Allies has at all itmes been 
most cordial. A far greater effort has been put forth 
by the Allied armies and staffs to assist us than could 
have been expected. The French Government and 
Army have always stood ready to furnish us with sup- 
plies, equipment; and transportation and to aid us in 
every way. In the towns and hamlets wherever our 
troops have been stationed or billeted the French peo- 
ple have everywhere received them more as relatives 
and intimate friends than as soldiers of a foreign 
army. For these things words are quite inadequate 
to express our gratitude. There can be no doubt that 
the relations growing out of our associations here as- 
sure a permanent friendship between the two peoples. 
Although we have not been so intimately associated 
with the people of Great Britain, yet their troops and 
ours when thrown together have always warmly frat- 
ernized. The reception of those of our forces who 
have passed through England and of those who have 
been stationed there has always been enthusiastic. Al- 
together it has been deeply impressed upon us that 
the ties of language and blood bring the British and 
ourselves together completely and inseparably. 

STRENGTH 

There are in Europe altogether including a regi- 
ment and some sanitary units with the Italian Army 
and the organizations at Murmansk, also including 
those en route from the States, approximately 2,053,- 
347 men, less our losses. Of this total there are in 
France 1,338,169 combatant troops. Forty divisions 



Page 34 General Pershing's Own Story 

have arrived, of which the Infantry personnel of 10 
have been used as replacements, leaving 30 divisions 
now in France organized into three armies of three 
corps each. 

The losses of the Americans up to November 18 
are: Killed and wounded, 36,145; died of disease, 
14,81 1 ; deaths unclassified, 2,204 ; wounded, 179,625 ; 
prisoners, 2,163; missing, 1,160. We have captured 
about 44,000 prisoners and 1,400 guns, howitzers and 
trench mortars. 

COMMENDATION 

The duties of the General Staff, as well as those of 
the Army and corps staffs, have been very ably per- 
formed. Especially is this true when we consider the 
new and difficult problems with which they have been 
confronted. This body of officers, both as individ- 
uals and as an organization, have, I believe, no su- 
periors in professional ability, in efficiency, or in 
loyalty. 

Nothing that we have in France better reflects the 
efficiency and devotion to duty of Americans in gen- 
eral than the Service of Supply whose personnel is 
thoroughly imbued with a patriotic desire to do its 
full duty. They have at all times fully appreciated 
their responsibility to the rest of the Army and the 
results produced have been most gratifying. . 

Our Medical Corps is especially entitled to praise 
for the general effectiveness of its work both in hos- 
pital and at the front. Embracing men of high pro- 
fessional attainments, and splendid women devoted 
to their calling and untiring in their efforts, this de- 
partment has made a new record for medical and san- 
itary proficiency. 



General Pershing's Own Story Page 55 

The Quartermaster Department has had difficult 
and various tasks, but it has more than met all de- 
mands that have been made upon it. Its management 
and its personnel have been exceptionally efficient and 
deserve every possible commendation. 

As to the more technical services, the able personnel 
of the Ordnance Department in France has splendid- 
ly fulfilled its functions both in procurement and in 
forwarding the immense quantities of ordnance re- 
quired. The officers and men and the young women 
of the Signal Corps have performed their duties with 
a large conception of the problem and with a devoted 
and patriotic spirit to which the perfection of our 
communications daily testify. While the Engineer 
Corps has been referred to in another part of this re- 
port, it should be further stated that the work has re- 
quired large vision and high professional skill, and 
great credit is due their personnel for the high pro- 
ficiency that they have constantly maintained. 

Our aviators have no e quals i n daring or in fighting 
ability and have left a record of courageous de'eds tTiat 
will ever remain a brilliant page in the annals of our 
Army. While the Tank Corps has had limited op- 
portunities its personnel has responded gallantly on 
every possible occasion and has shown courage of the 
highest order. 

The Adjutant General's Department has been di- 
rected with a systematic thoroughness and excellence 
that surpassed any previous work of its kind. The In- 
spector General's Department has risen to the high- 
est standards and throughout has ably assisted com- 
manders in the enforcement of discipline. The able 
personnel of the Judge Advocate General's Depart- 



Page j6 General Pershing's Own Story 

ment has solved with judgment and wisdom the multi- 
tude of difficult legal problems, many of them involv- 
ing questions of great international importance. 

It would be impossible in this brief preliminary re- 
port to do justice to the personnel of all the different 
branches of this organization which I shall cover in 
detail in a later report. 

The Navy in European waters has at all times most 
cordially aided the Army, and it is most gratifying to 
report that there has never before been such perfect 
cooperation between these two branches of the ser- 
vice. 

As to Americans in Europe not in the military ser- 
vices, it is the greatest pleasure to say that, both in 
official and in private life, they are intensely patri- 
otic and loyal, and have been invariably sympathetic 
and helpful to the Army. 

Finally, I pay the supreme tribute to our officers 
and soldiers of the line. When I think of their hero- 
ism, their patience under hardships, their unflinching 
spirit of offensive action, I am filled with emotion 
which I am unable to express. Their deeds are im- 
mortal, and they have earned the eternal gratitude of 
our country. 

I am, Mr. Secretary, very respectfully, 

John J. Pershing, 

General, Commander in Chief 
American Expeditionary Forces. 

To the Secretary of War. 



